Absolution

Radko Slopovich. A Roman Catholic Priest, Radko leads a life of duplicity; though promised to celibacy, Radko meets and falls in love with Ursula, with whom he unexpectedly has twins.  Unable to choose between his call to the priesthood and the woman he loves, Radko marries Ursula and moves to a large Midwestern diocese where he is afforded just enough anonymity to   maintain his family life and remain a priest.  For several years, Radko carries on with both his priestly life and family life. But when he learns he is about to be named bishop of a rural diocese, Radko s conflicting passions are ignited. Will he choose to further his career in the Church, or remain loyal to his wife and young children? Can he have both?    But Radko will soon learn that there is more to his new role in the Church than initially meets the eye. He has been picked to be part of a plot orchestrated by a close friend and a highly placed Vatican official. And while this plot has the power to change the face of the Church forever, it also has the power to destroy Radko and all he holds dear.    As the gripping narrative unfolds, Radko must seek meaning in the midst of chaos and grapple with the consequences of the choices he has made   and those choices that have been made for him.

From the Midwest Book Review:    Absolution& by Paul Martin Midden is the story of Radko Slopovich, who is a Roman Catholic Priest sworn to a life of celibacy and service -- until he meets and falls in love with Ursula with whom he fathers a pair of twins. Radko marries Ursula and moves to a large Midwestern diocese where he is afforded just enough anonymity to maintain his family life and continue to serve as a priest. He's able to do this for several years, until he is about to be promoted to the position of Bishop in a rural diocese.   Now he will have to choose between the Church and his family. All this plays out against a backdrop of Vatican politics, plots, and power. Absolution is a superbly crafted novel, replete with memorable characters, psychological insights, ecclesiastical dilemmas, and a riveting story played out within the context of priestly vows and human emotions. Very highly recommended reading, Absolution is as entertaining as is thoughtful and thought-provoking. --Saint Louis Post-Dispatch

Violet Nesoldy, Blogcritics.org:    What if a Catholic priest, pledged to celibacy, fell in love, married and had children? Paul Martin Midden has created just such a scenario in his first novel Absolution.     In order to carry out his life of duplicity, Father Radko Slopovich does his job well, keeps mum about his personal life, and does a Mr. Bean costume change in his car every day on the way to and from his home in the suburbs to the diocese office in Chicago. Then one day he gets word that he is being considered for appointment as a bishop. A trip to Rome gives him a glimpse of the power and influence that could be his.  He realizes, too, the anonymity he loves will be sacrificed. So what of Ursula, the atheistic woman he loves? If he accepts the appointment, he will surely need even more complicity from her   forthright and outspoken though she is. Things become even more complicated when he discovers that he is being used to further a Vatican official s secret agenda.      Absolution is a book that majors on character. The main players, Radko and Ursula, are interesting, complex and delineated in rich and believable detail. Author Midden, a trained psychologist, has worked extensively with the Catholic clergy. He brings his expertise and background to the story, and the result is a psychological reading experience not unlike getting into the head of Dostoyevsky s Raskolnikov. Even the bit-players come alive on the page.     Though the story is set in modern U.S.A. (complete with cell phones, computers and a hacker), the reference to Catholic traditions and the pomp of the Vatican give it a traditional, even timeless feel. Further, Midden from time to time uses setting in a symbolic way. At one point Radko takes up a position in North Dakota in the winter. The frigid temperatures, barren landscape and his stark, frumpy residence reflect his emotional and social state.      I enjoyed Midden s way with language. His prose is confident and at times picturesque:      He didn t talk to anyone about what was happening; he didn t quit his job; he didn t do anything different. Except see Ursula and luxuriate in the sublime rabbit hole into which he had lately fallen.       When Ursula s phone rang, she barely heard it. She was bonded with her computer screen.      The book covers a lot of territory as it addresses issues of love, marriage, family, relationships, Celibacy in the Catholic church, honesty, integrity, and forgiveness. If the book surprised me in one way, it was in Radko s lack of personal spiritual conviction and commitment. He was religious enough. Yet, though he never questioned the dogma of the church to the point of losing his faith (I got the sense that if he had gone there, he might have), his dilemma over whether or not to remain a priest hardly seemed to involve a relationship with God at all. Rather it seemed all about whether or not he should turn his back on what he felt was his destiny and what job would he ever find that was as fulfilling as being a man of the cloth.      All in all, the book is a skillfully told tale. Marriage and family gain a new allure when they are portrayed as forbidden fruit. Radko and Ursula will live with readers long after they have turned the last page. --Blogcritics.org

Henry Levins, St. Louis Post-Dispatch  The dust jacket of Paul Martin Midden's Absolution hints at a revolutionary plot inside the Vatican to change Catholicism.    Well, yeah, there's that. But mostly, Absolution tells the story of a priest in Chicago who works at archdiocesan headquarters and is in line to become a bishop. Trouble is, this priest has secret baggage: a wife and two kids.    A powerful prelate in the Vatican wants to change the church's thinking about celibacy   indeed, about sexuality. He wants to slip married bishops into the system. The plot complication: The priest's wife balks. So which will the priest choose? His wife? Or a bishop's miter?    Author Midden lives in St. Louis and works as a psychologist, with years of experience in counseling priests. That experience shows in his insights into the clerical way of thinking, to say nothing of church politics.     Best of all, Midden writes well, showing the storytelling power of the simple declarative sentence. That writing will keep you moving through this slowly paced but fascinating story. --Saint Louis Post-Dispatch